BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On Saturday, October 5, junior Waverly Neer and sophomore Leila Mantilla both posted top-20 finishes to lead the Columbia women's cross country team to a fifth-place showing in a field of 48 schoolsat the 2013 Paul Short Invitational.

Columbia totaled 203 points in the 6K race to place fifth, while defeating two top-25 ranked opponents in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll. The Lions finished ahead of No. 13 Penn State and No. 29 West Virginia on Saturday morning. In a race that featured five top-30 opponents, No. 6 Georgetown captured the win, followed by runner-ups Dartmouth, No. 13 Villanova in third place and No. 10 Cornell in fourth place.

With a time of 20:15, Neer had a strong performance for Columbia with a third place overall finish. Mantilla posted a solid day with a 17th-place finish with a time of 20:54 and senior Danika Simonson added another top-50 finish for the Lions with a 38th-place time of 21:17.

In a field of 406 runners, senior Chelsea Carrick crossed the line with a time of 21:29 for 60th place. First-year Samantha Siler also grabbed 85th place with a time of 21:40.

The Columbia women will return to action on Friday, Oct. 11 to compete in the Metropolitan Championships to be held at the local Van Cortlandt Park.